[Albion] #StrikerFail - who is to blame?

[Murray 17]

This why we r where we r today because we have tried to do this on the cheap . Yes it does hurt blaming the messiah but he is the man who had the money this gamble has truly backfired and its him who needs to look at himself .


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For me it's been about money all along.

We have clearly been identifying targets, been generally willing to pay the necessary transfer fees. However, top strikers don't play for £40k per week any more. If they do it's because they are unproven at the top level, and therefore a risk. To pay someone £80k over a 3 year contract would cost us another £6m. Peanuts compared to the hundreds of millions we would earn by staying in the PL.

Bournemouth must be the smallest club to ever play in the PL, and even they pay the going rate.

 

[jameswestport]

You win some you lose some

 

[ferring seagull]

I'm afraid that this has come from the very top.

The recruitment team had identified exactly what players were needed, but the inflated market meant that a decision had to be made whether to go for them.

Huddersfield did, ourselves and Newcastle didn't.

The decision is a high level one. Bloom runs a company that has scouts in every country in the world, so he backed that knowledge and data.

There were misgivings about that strategy a few weeks ago from within both companies.

For what it's worth, and my opinion means shit, I think that looking Stockdale was just about as bad as the striker situation - he is a player that everyone gets on with and is good enough for the PL.

I'm unsure about other signings - bar Izzy Brown and Izquerido.

But it seems that perhaps the rather obvious thing to do would have been to establish if they were amenable to a move to BHA - seems a few were just not interested or were happy where they were !

 

[Weststander]

Wagner, Silva, Clement, Parish/Dougie, bad luck, agents, Dyche, Neymar's transfer, overseas selling clubs, Howe, internal club leaks, being promoted too early.

One way or another, under the Butterfly Effect, they've contributed to the Albion's lack of PL able strikers.

Barber and Winstanley have faced a lot of obstacles.

 

[Weststander]

You lose some you lose some

How negative.

 

[The Merry Prankster]

An Albion player of recent years too me that our problem is and will always be that Tony is not prepared to pay the going rate for strikers. I think we've just seen the proof of that. It's his money, he can do as he pleases. I do however wish that they would spare us the Premier League Ready bullshit when we are clearly anything but.

 

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

There's lots of blame on other threads being thrust in the general direction of "the recruitment team".

I guess it depends on how one defines "the recruitment team" but my view, which may well be wrong, is that it's Paul Winstanley and his team who have the job if identifying players who may be suitable for our needs. I would guess that part of that role may include coming up with an estimate of both up-front purchase and ongoing contractual costs.

From the point of identification, I'd assume that players that are going to be pursued become a matter for more commercially-minded folk. At the Albion, I would imagine this is Paul Barber and Tony Bloom.

Based on what I think happens (again, I might be horribly wrong), I'm finding it hard to blame "the recruitment team". It feels as though where we failed to strike deals happened further down the process than that.

Who are you blaming and why?

No one is to blame and I find the need to find blame with everything tedious. Sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you try it just turns out to be the wrong place at the wrong time. yes we didnt get a striker and perhapsan extra CB might have been nice but we strengthened everywhere else and kept our eyes on the long term. We knew that this year would be hard and anyone with any sense knows that we might have to go down to be ready for the prem. so let's be happy with what weve got and move on.

 

[Commander]

Not Bloom's fault, defo blame lies at the feet of Barber and Winstanley & recruitment team. Bloom should take back their promotion bonuses

Why? Explain. Bloom controls the purse strings. Nobody else. We don't have the players we wanted because we didn't offer enough money.

 

[warmleyseagull]

An Albion player of recent years too me that our problem is and will always be that Tony is not prepared to pay the going rate for strikers. I think we've just seen the proof of that. It's his money, he can do as he pleases. I do however wish that they would spare us the Premier League Ready bullshit when we are clearly anything but.

This. Cascarino predicted that the £40k salary cap would scupper us, and he has been proved correct. Maybe the purse strings were loosened near the end, but too late.

 

[Bold Seagull]

No doubt Hughton didn't want to sign an overpriced striker and end up with another Ricky van Wolfswinkel on his hands either.

 

[blockhseagull]

Sky

 

[warmleyseagull]

You win some you lose some

But when you lose, you analyse, you work out what could have been done better, you learn. Let's hope we can do a Burnley, and that TB will have learnt.

 

[Bold Seagull]

This. Cascarino predicted that the £40k salary cap would scupper us, and he has been proved correct. Maybe the purse strings were loosened near the end, but too late.

Amazing though, as fans we complain about ticket prices, the cost of watching football, the money in it, the marketing, the greed and corruption, and yet when our own club takes a brave financial stand, that we're going to be financially prudent, that we won't be held to ransom on players leaving or arriving, we as fans are up in arms about it.

We can't actually have it both ways so that when a ticket increase is announced, or Harvey's goes up in price, or we close the 7 Stars to open a paid for restaurant/lounge, we can't go batshit mental about that, then moan when we don't pay over the odds for players.

 

[Steve.S]

I hope after last nights failure that the club continued to work through the night looking at free agents with PL experience as a short term gap until Christmas. Looks like every game will be park the bus otherwise. I don't see Baldock playing much of a role this season. He has became injury prone now.

 

[jasetheace]

One thing so far missing from this thread is an analysis of the supposed new recruitment system that we were operating. Vicariously for the club, Naylor harangued us all for not recognising the strong and stable "pod of similar players per position" that the club had carefully researched. Well clearly no real work had been done in terms of understanding fitness and health backgrounds and then reaching out to and attracting these players (and lets not pretend that you cannot do this in the background even whilst under contract) so that they might actually sign on the bleedin dotted line.

I do feel rather awkward for Tomer Hemed and he will no doubt feel that angst in the coming games but actually you know, sometimes fans are not idiots and they do know something about the game and in this instance they are right to argue that our strikers are nowhere near what is required at this level.

One thing that troubles me is the complete unwillingness of players to come to Brighton. Doesn't matter what the reason is..my ego is feeling a little bit bruised this morning..Is yours?

 

[Larry]

Paul Barber he recruited the recruite ment team.

 

[doogie004]

Bloom has made his fortune being a very good gambler. This transfer window he has gambled on getting very good strikers at below their market value both in fees and wages (whether you agree with the over-inflated market values is neither here nor there). The trouble with even the best gamblers is that they don't always win. The strategy was the gamble, the gamble went spectacularly wrong and now we are left to collectively lick our wounds. It's hard to lay blame at the door of the man who has got us to where we are, especially when he is a fellow die-hard fan and seemingly very decent human being, but in terms of who is responsible for the lack of landing a single striker and hence giving us a reasonable chance of doing ok in the mini league at the bottom then it has to be TB, and he will know it. Secondly, Paul Barber as CEO is the hard-nosed businessman who advises TB on corporate matters, so he must also take a large share of the responsibility of not realising or convincing TB that the strategy was flawed. All top businessmen in the modern world need to understand Dataism. The data was clearly there in regards to inflated fees and wages this summer. Those in business who fail (or choose not) to react to the current data quickly enough will fail. None of this is to detract from the very real dilemma of the even bigger gamble of do you spend big, potentially destabilising the club financially, with the possibility of still getting relegated? Or do you stick to your guns and hope for the best, knowing that you either have a chance (albeit incredibly slim) of pulling it off and staying up or at the worst still having a financially stable club when you get relegated. One thing is for sure, I'm glad I don't have to make those choices!

For as good a poker player bloom is I watch and play a lot and don't see him at many final tables says it all .


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[Trigger]

The Recruitment team clearly, we've known since promotion that we don't have any Premier League quality strikers at the club, that is plenty long enough to address the situation, don't care what spin people try and put on it, it's an epic cock up by the recruitment guys and questions should be asked of them, end of.

 

[doogie004]

Wagner, Silva, Clement, Parish/Dougie, bad luck, agents, Dyche, Neymar's transfer, overseas selling clubs, Howe, internal club leaks, being promoted too early.

One way or another, under the Butterfly Effect, they've contributed to the Albion's lack of PL able strikers.

Barber and Winstanley have faced a lot of obstacles.

They r gonna face bigger ones now though


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[Weststander]

This. Cascarino predicted that the £40k salary cap would scupper us, and he has been proved correct. Maybe the purse strings were loosened near the end, but too late.

Another person to hate. What does Cas know about the football business?